Same Roads
by Harte-Lore
Summary: Soundwave can't sleep. Starscream is just sick of running down the same roads over and over. Teeny hints of shonen-ai and abuse, but nothing that can't be ignored. One-shot.


Crap drabble thingy, didn't really read it over, it's like, 2 in the morning, and the song got stuck in my head XD

Enjoy the twisted machinations of my twisted imaginations.

Don't own transformers, blah blah blah. Beware of light hints of abuse and gay robot-ness. Song is Let Down, by Linkin Park. Don't own that either.

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><p>"<em>And the tears fall like rain<br>Down my face again  
>Oh the words you wouldn't say~"<em>

Soundwave wasn't sure what he was doing, walking down the empty hallways of the Nemesis in the middle of the night, following a quiet voice and melody for no apparent reason other than to discover where it was coming from.

This was the fourth night in a row he'd been woken up from his recharge cycle by the haunting voice, singing the same sad song over and over, but it was the first time he'd done something other than lay in his uncomfortable, too small berth and listen.

He wandered the hallways, trying to locate the source, but the way the sounds were echoing off the metal walls made the task nearly impossible.

"_And the games you played  
>With my unfoolish heart<br>Oh I should have known this from the start~"_

Music had always been a source of emotion in him, and this song was striking all the wrong chords.

It... hurt.

"_Ohh the winter and spring  
>Going in hand in hand<br>Just like my love and pain~"_

It made him feel like crying, and he was emotionless- no, he had emotions, he just buried them so far under monotones and masks and visors he almost believed the farce himself...

The song, though... It made him feel again, and he...

He was torn between loving it and hating it.

"_How the thought of you cuts deep within the vein  
>Oh this brand new skin stretched across scarred terrain~"<em>

So focused on the music, he didn't realize he'd ended up on the surface until the moonlight near blinded him, reminding him that, in his rush to find the source of the song _(to stop it, to continue it, to-) _he'd left his mask and visor in their customary places on his berthside table.

He very nearly turned back, and the only thing that kept him from fleeing to the safety_ (not safe, never safe near _him) of his room was the fact that the music, the singing had grown louder.

"_I don't want to be let down  
>I don't want to live that life again<br>Don't want to be lead down the same old road~"_

Black, contrasting, silhouetted by the bright light of the moon, a figure hunched over, arms wrapped around its frame, claws digging in, so much _pain, _wings shuddering and flicking-

"_So I don't want to be let down  
>I don't want to live my lies again<br>Don't want to be lead down the same old road~"_

Wings. Hoarse voice. Wings. Starscream.

Arrogant, harsh, grating, obnoxious, egotistical...

Wasn't he?

"_All those years down the drain  
>Love was not enough when you want everything~"<em>

Soundwave crept closer quietly, uncomprehending. The seeker had fooled them, fooled _him_, tricked them all into believing he was a superficial, stupid drone, but obviously he was capable of feeling, just like Soundwave was capable of feeling.

They'd just hidden it in different ways.

"_What I gave to you and now the end must start  
>Oh I should have listened to my heart~"<em>

He was tempted, so tempted, to simply reach into the other's mind and find the answers to all the questions he had _(why how who why why why)_, but... something stopped him. He wasn't sure what, or why, but he felt like that specific course of action would have... devastating consequences.

"_'Cause I don't want to be let down_- DAMMIT!"

The song cut off harshly, nearly startling Soundwave enough to jump.

Starscream was pounding his fists into the metal of the ship, glowing blue tears sliding from his optics.

"Why why why Why WHY! Why do I let him- Why do I believe-"

Another punch, and Soundwave winced, hearing the crunch and grind of gears.

"Why... Primus damn you, Megatron, I hate you. I HATE YOU!"

The livid seeker staggered to his feet, glaring at the moon.

Dents. Scrapes. Gashes, cuts, some still leaking energon. Shattered optic, bent wing...

"It's always the same..."

"...With him? Yes."

Starscream whirled around, wings flared, hissing threateningly.

"Who- S-soundwave...?"

The blue mech stepped forward, grabbing the seeker's damaged hand and pulling out a few small tools, readjusting displaced gears and cogs.

"Wh-what are you- let g- your face..."

He flinched a little, but set about his task resolutely, ducking his head.

"What happened?"

"... The same thing that happened to you, I'm assuming."

Without his mask and the built in vocoder, the cassette player's voice was deep, rasping, but lyrical.

"Megatron-?"

"Was overcharged."

Worn blue fingers traced over deep scars spiderwebbed over his faceplates, the reason he wore a mask in the first place.

There weren't very many, really, but they were deep and thick, oh-so-noticeable.

Reminders of his leader's... power.

"He hurt me... again. He keeps telling me he won't, that he'll be gentle this time, that he was sorry, that-"

The seeker choked, suppressing tears.

"It's all a lie. He keeps hurting me, Soundwave, and I don't know what to do. I made everybody think I'm an arrogant brat, and now they won't even look my way."

He looked up, gold-yellow optics boring straight into red, and stretched out a thin string of his power, uploading, not receiving.

They were so alike, he marveled, both wearing masks, as literal and figurative as they were.

_I am here._

_I understand._

_You are not alone._

Starscream collapsed against him, shaking with sobs, broken and bleeding and so much better than what he pretended to be, and Soundwave held him, just as broken, and so much kinder, so much angrier, so much more hurt than he pretended to be.

They both wore masks, different masks to cover and hide different things, literal masks and figurative masks, but they both wore them.

And, as Soundwave kneeled on the cooling metal of the ship, staring up at the waning moon and playing music quietly through his speakers, Starscream curled against him, he wondered if, perhaps, they'd found a reason to stop wearing them.

_I don't want to be let down  
>I don't want to live my life again<br>Don't want to be lead down the same old road  
>So I don't want to be let down<br>I don't want to live my lies again  
>Don't want to be lead down the same old road<em>

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><p><em>Review andor flame at your discretion.  
><em>


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